France Bonsant

[Interparliamentary Delegations, June 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union concerning its participation in the 120th IPU Assembly and related meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from April 5 to 10, 2009.

[Dr. Réjean Hébert, June 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to highlight the exceptional career of a doctor in my riding, Dr. Réjean Hébert. Dr. Hébert, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke, is a man of many accomplishments.

Since he took over the faculty seven years ago, the number of professors and graduates has doubled. The applied cancer research pavilion will soon open, and the faculty is now known around the world as a result of his work in Uruguay, Mali and now Haiti.

In September, Dr. Hébert will leave the Eastern Townships to work for the Caisse nationale de solidarité pour l'autonomie des personnes âgées et des personnes handicapées in France for one year. On behalf of my constituents in Compton—Stanstead, I wish him the best of luck in his new position. My fellow constituents and I know that France can only stand to gain from the remarkable expertise of Dr. Hébert.

[Robert De Courcel, May 6th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, the Eastern Townships are in mourning. Robert De Courcel, one of the leading figures in the townships' media and cultural scene, passed away on April 21 at the age of 70, succumbing to lung cancer.

An interviewer, columnist and journalist, Mr. De Courcel became known to young people of the 1960s through the show Le Cirque à Tonton, on which he played Tonton Bonbon. He was also the director of programming at the CHLT and CJRS radio stations, after which he returned to television and writing for print media. Robert “Ti-Bob” De Courcel was also known for his involvement in the Fondation du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke.

On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to his family. And, Mr. De Courcel, one last time, we thank him for all the good memories.

[Petitions, April 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, again today, I am presenting a petition calling for the adoption of my Bill C-343, to provide assistance to victims of crime and to their families by extending the employment insurance eligibility period and by allowing victims' families to take leave from work and keep their job for an indeterminate period of time.

Later this afternoon there will be a vote on this bill to refer it to committee. On behalf of the hundreds of people who signed this petition and all the victims' families, I would like to see a majority of hon. members in this House vote in favour of this bill.

These 160 signatures, added to all the others, show the public's concern for what happens to victims' families and their desire for the government to take action as soon as possible.

[Canada Labour Code, April 23rd, 2010]

The very one? It is chilling. We have looked into this and it would cost roughly $40 million.

This bill truly needs to be adopted. We have to think of the families. This might affect another child in the family. If depression sets in, then the child will not only have lost a brother or sister, but he may lose his parents as well. We also have to take into consideration the family unit. When things start to deteriorate financially speaking, then troubles begin. It is extremely difficult to go through.

I have one more minute to persuade my Conservative colleagues. I urge the Conservatives to focus on something other than their CF-18s and their fun new weapons. I want them to take a minute to think about the human beings close to the victims. I want them to think about the dads, the moms, the husbands and the wives. Do they really think that, as a mother, I would ever sit down next to a pedophile or start voting against children? Not on your life. I hope that members will use their heads, if they have one to use. This is just grandstanding.

I want them to take two seconds to reflect on the family unit. I am sure that somewhere in their hard little hearts, they can find space for my bill.

[Canada Labour Code, April 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the Liberals and NDP for supporting me with this bill. One has to experience the death of a child in one's family in order to understand how difficult it is.

I lost one of my nieces in an accident. It was hard, but it was an accident. When we are talking about victims of crime, the loss must be even harder to endure, because it so unnatural. That is why my bill talks about victims' families, the mothers, fathers and spouses. It would be very hard to go through such a difficult period without help. We talk a great deal about different amounts of money. It is true, very true; we talk about money. But how can we put a price on someone's life?

These people need psychological and financial help to get through the difficult time ahead. If the person does not have the means to pay their rent or mortgage for example, that can lead to depression. It would be impossible to return to work after only six weeks at home. I am speaking as a mother. I have children and I think that losing one of my daughters would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me.

If this person does not have the financial support to get through this crisis, they will have to return to work. As my NDP colleague said, when a person returns to work after six, eight or fifteen weeks, the depression sets in later. It is not cost-effective for a company to take back an employee who has suffered a terrible tragedy because the company knows it will lose this employee, it just does not know when.

The bill protects the employee and the employer for up to two years. The employer can try to find a temporary replacement for two years. The employee has two years to return to work, but if, after one year, he feels he can return to work part-time, he may do so. But we must at least give people an opportunity to deal with this tragedy.

Everyone has lost someone close to them. Everyone. Whether it was a relative or someone else. Everyone knows what this bill represents. The senator and I have worked on this bill for a long time and I find it despicable that the Conservatives are not taking into consideration what he went through and what my daughter went through when she lost a friend to crime.

I am in politics in order to make a difference. I want to make a difference for families. It is not hard to understand. We estimate it would take $40 million, but the Conservatives think it would take $400 million. It was probably the same Minister of Finance who, in 2008, denied there was a financial crisis.

[Sébastien's Law (Protecting the Public from Violent Young Offenders), April 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague has been talking about social reintegration. I think that this bill makes it is easier to imprison young offenders than to help them. Would releasing the names of these young men not make it easier for organized crime groups to recruit them, in the knowledge that they tried to change but have a criminal record?

Does she think that if these names are published, the mafia or other organized crime groups will be more inclined to recruit these young people?

[Petitions, April 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I am presenting a petition that calls for the adoption of my bill, Bill C-343, which provides assistance for victims of crime, and particularly their families, by extending the eligibility period for employment insurance and allowing the families of victims to take time off work and keep their job for an indeterminate period of time.

On April 28, the House will vote to send this bill to committee. On behalf of the hundreds of petitioners and all the families of victims, I hope that a majority of this House will support the bill. These 35 signatures, in addition to all the others, show that the public is concerned about the families of victims and that they want the government to take action as quickly as possible.

[Quebec Federation of Senior Citizens, April 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as part of its national day of action on April 20, FADOQ, the Quebec Federation of Senior Citizens, Eastern Townships Region, held a demonstration in downtown Sherbrooke. Among those present were Jacques Demers, the president of FADOQ – Eastern Townships Region, and Jean Lacharité, the president of the Eastern Townships Conseil central de la CSN.

For years now, the Bloc Québécois has worked hard to bring seniors' concerns to the attention of the federal government. In response, the Conservative government has turned a deaf ear and continued to ignore our seniors, despite the Bloc's repeated efforts, particularly in connection with increasing the guaranteed income supplement.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the work of Mr. Demers and to reiterate my support, and the support of the Bloc Québécois, for FADOQ – Eastern Townships Region, and for the entire FADOQ network. Although the Conservatives continue to do nothing, we must keep up the fight.

[Victims of Crime, April 21st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, to no one's surprise, the Conservative government has announced that it will vote against Bill C-343, which provides real, tangible financial assistance to the families of victims of crime.

The government, which loudly proclaims that it defends victims and their families, is instead creating a diversion by holding Victims of Crime Awareness Week. We cannot oppose virtue. However, this gesture is simply a smokescreen for the Conservatives' inaction and indifference towards the financial needs of victims' families. The truth is that it is the awareness of this government's members that needs to be raised.

If the Conservatives truly were concerned by the fate of victims and their families, they would vote for Bill C-343on April 28.